Milwaukee County district attorney responds to claim his office is too cozy with community group Enough is Enough

Lovern. Photograph from the Milwaukee County website.

By Alexandria Staubach
 
Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern has responded to the State Public Defenders office accusation that his office is too close to community advocacy group Enough is Enough.
 
Lovern defended his office’s interactions with the advocacy group in a letter sent last week to Chief Judge Carl Ashley.
 
Lovern’s letter addressed the claim by attorneys in the SPD’s office that Enough is Enough’s “activities and formation have been closely coordinated with the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office since its inception,” and that the group “should not be regarded as an independent grass roots organization.”
 
Lovern told Ashley that “the District Attorney’s Office has provided an appropriate level of assistance to allow a community group to better understand and access the Milwaukee County criminal justice system.” He said his office provided support “with the spirit of facilitating greater access of community members to the important workings of its local government institutions, while maintaining the ethical tenets that govern our advocacy.”
 
Enough is Enough initially reached out to Lovern in early 2024, after he announced he was running for district attorney, he said. The group shared their plans to serve as “a court watch entity to gather information about prosecution and sentencing practices.”
 
After Lovern met with the nascent nonprofit group, he “indicated (his) general belief that more public engagement with our criminal justice system is always welcome.” He told Ashley it is important for the public to see “the difficulty of the work done on a daily basis” by government accountable to the community.
 
Lovern told Ashley that after meeting with Enough is Enough, he asked Assistant District Attorney Joy Hammond to aid the group in its early efforts to understand the criminal justice system. Hammond then asked retired Assistant District Attorney Tom Potter to help.
 
The SPD attorneys claimed that Hammond and Potter were particularly involved in the group’s initial formation.
 
Lovern described Hammond as one of eight community prosecutors whose primary function is connecting community members with other institutions in Milwaukee County.
 
Lovern said Hammond attended a few meetings with Enough is Enough over the course of a year. She also provided a courthouse tour for the group, met with a sitting judge and Enough is Enough in the courthouse cafeteria, and attended an off-site community event held by the group.
 
Potter helped the group learn the Wisconsin Circuit Court Access Program (CCAP).
 
Lovern found the most concerning assertion in the SPD letter to be the alleged editing by individuals related to the DA’s office of Enough is Enough communications to the judiciary.
 
Lovern conceded that Potter helped edit a letter of introduction from the group to Ashley, but noted that Potter’s edits included a suggestion to “clearly establish the independence of (Enough is Enough) from the District Attorney’s Office.”
 
Hammond contributed to a letter Enough is Enough intended to distribute to the community. “Hammond wrote four suggested paragraphs,” said Lovern. While he had not seen everything produced by the group, “I have not seen . . . writing that substantially contains the paragraphs written by Hammond,” he said.
 
“There is no evidence that any member of the District Attorney’s Office has edited other (Enough is Enough) submissions to the Judiciary at large,” Lovern told Ashley. He said his office had not participated in “any community impact statements submitted to the courts” by Enough is Enough.
 
Lovern listed two dozen other organizations with which his office has regular contact and said that Enough is Enough “is now one of those groups.”
 
Lovern wrote that his office did provide Enough is Enough with copies of criminal complaints as the group got on its feet and learned how to navigate CCAP. Those “are obviously public documents,” he said, adding that his office’s assistance was “consistent with every other member of the public, including the media, who requests a copy.”
 
A shared Dropbox folder in which fewer than 20 complaints were placed was used for several days.
 
“There is no attempt to obfuscate the engagement (Enough is Enough) has with this office,” Lovern said.
 
He highlighted that “SPD made special mention” that Enough is Enough intended to share its findings with the press, local leaders, and legislators. “This is precisely the function of court watch groups,” Lovern wrote. 

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